“In these speedway races, there’s definitely a feeling over time, especially the longer you’ve been in them, to go for it,” Patrick said before Cup practice Friday at DIS. “I think you have to start to take a chance to try and put yourself in a position to win.

“I don’t feel like I would want to just settle for the same thing.”

In other words, Patrick would take risks to win rather than be tentative on the final lap as she appeared to be in February.

She already has become the first woman ever to win a Cup pole — also for the Daytona 500 — and another top-10 finish wouldn’t mean as much as trying to make something happen.

“Although a top-10 finish is always good to have, in the long run, it will serve you better to try things,” Patrick said.

“It will show other drivers you are willing to do it and that when the time comes maybe next time or the time after or the time after, all of a sudden you have a little better trust and following of other drivers that you want to win — every driver wants to follow someone who wants to go for a win.”

At the end of the Daytona 500, Patrick possibly could have worked more with Dale Earnhardt Jr., although she knows that luck does play a role.

“(Jimmie Johnson) said the two times that he’s won at Daytona were the two times that he didn’t have any kind of plan,” Patrick said. “I suppose it’s about being at the right place at the right time and having the right people behind you.

“There’s luck that plays into it that way. A lot of times good drivers win, so you still need to know what to do. Probably more than anything it just means have a little bit of experience so you can handle whatever situation comes up best.”

Patrick enters Daytona with some momentum. She has four consecutive lead-lap finishes. That might not seem like much but she only had two lead-lap finishes in the first 13 races of the year.

“It is getting better,” Patrick said. “Do I wish it would get better faster, for sure. Everybody that’s not running in the top 10 every weekend wishes it would get better faster.

“It’s small steps and part of it is being a rookie and learning and part of it is making things better internally so you can go faster.”